US weighs Middle East troop cuts, underground facilities after Iran attacks expose bases

Dubai: The Iran war may end up redrawing America’s military map of the Middle East.

After months of Iranian missile and drone attacks exposed vulnerabilities across a network of US bases and intelligence facilities built up over decades, American military and intelligence officials are quietly discussing whether Washington should reduce parts of its regional footprint once the conflict ends, according to CNN.

At the same time, the Pentagon is considering moving some installations underground to better protect forces that remain from missile and drone attacks, CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the discussions.

The emerging discussions suggest the war could trigger one of the most significant reassessments in years of how the United States positions its forces across the Middle East.

There are still about 50,000 US troops in the region, along with two aircraft carriers and more than a dozen guided-missile destroyers. But Iranian attacks have demonstrated that the permanent bases meant to project American power can themselves become targets.

US officials say American military installations in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been hit by Iranian drones and missiles during the conflict, with significant damage in some cases.

CNN reported, citing a US official and a former intelligence officer, that a CIA outpost in Riyadh was effectively destroyed in an Iranian attack.

The damage is now feeding a broader question in Washington: How much of America’s vast Middle East infrastructure should be rebuilt at all?

Military planners have developed several possible options for changing the US force structure in the region as early as next year, according to CNN.

No formal force posture review has been ordered, and no final decisions have been made. Any major reduction would also depend on the Iran conflict ending.

But officials are considering whether some facilities badly damaged or destroyed during Iranian attacks should simply be abandoned rather than rebuilt, partly because of the cost.

Pentagon comptroller Jules “Jay” Hurst III acknowledged in April that the eventual repair bill remained unclear and that decisions would depend on what Washington wanted its future posture in the Middle East to look like.

The Pentagon also has to decide “if we do” rebuild some installations, he said.

Senior Pentagon officials have privately indicated that they want to reduce the US troop presence in several Gulf countries as part of a wider effort to place more of the defence burden on regional partners, CNN reported.

Rebuilding major permanent installations could cost billions of dollars, and Washington may also look to host countries to contribute.

Yet a smaller American presence would not necessarily mean a weaker one.

The US military is simultaneously examining how to better protect the forces that remain — including moving some installations underground to shield them from the kind of missile and drone attacks Iran has launched during the war.

The Pentagon had considered underground facilities before, but the idea gained urgency after the opening weeks of the conflict demonstrated the vulnerability of existing bases.

“The vulnerabilities were always known, but the US never acted on it with urgency,” a US official told CNN.

For the CIA and US special operations forces, the rethink could go even further.

Some officials have discussed whether sensitive missions still require personnel and equipment to be permanently stationed in the Middle East.

One alternative would be to keep them in the United States, deploy them to the region for specific missions and then bring them home.

The debate comes after more than two decades of American presidents trying — and repeatedly failing — to reduce Washington’s military commitments in the Middle East.

The US already maintained roughly 27,000 active-duty troops across the region by 1998. Its footprint expanded dramatically after the September 11, 2001 attacks as Washington fought wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and conducted counterterrorism operations elsewhere.

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the number of US troops in the Middle East reached an estimated 250,000. Between 2007 and 2011, it never fell below roughly 100,000.

Barack Obama later sought to shift American attention and resources towards Asia, while Donald Trump during his first presidency identified China as America’s biggest strategic threat.

But new crises repeatedly pulled Washington back into the region.

The latest attempt to rethink that presence is unfolding while the Iran war itself remains unresolved.

Iran continues to target American bases and forces, while the US is escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, striking Iranian infrastructure and applying economic pressure on Tehran.

US military leaders have warned Trump that further military escalation is unlikely to achieve his stated objectives, CNN previously reported, prompting greater emphasis on economic pressure.

There is no clear timeline for that strategy to work.

And whatever America’s Middle East military presence eventually looks like, the immediate danger has not disappeared.

US troops and bases are expected to remain vulnerable to Iranian attacks in the near term.

The Navy’s top admiral underscored how dramatically the security environment has changed when discussing Bahrain, traditionally home to the US Fifth Fleet.

“We’re not getting back in there anytime soon,” Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Caudle said last week.

“I just want to be completely honest with that.”